New Investment Program for Pumping Stations in the Mekong Delta

By issuing decree 1402/BNN-TL the government of Vietnam started a new investment program for upgrading the pumping station infrastructure of the Mekong Delta. This program is part of the government’s new policy on integrated rural development (Tam Nong). From 2009 to 2015 the Vietnamese government plans to invest not less than US$ 133 million in both, the conversion of petrol-run large and medium-sized pumping stations into electric-run pumping stations and the construction of new pumping stations throughout the delta. The program covers 3,129 pumping stations and aims at improving irrigation and drainage capacity for 658.000 hectares of paddy land and respective water control services for 6.000 hectares of land used for aquaculture.

However, the funds will be spent unevenly across the Delta: With about US$ 94 million the major part flows into the flood prone areas of the upper delta, namely the Plains of Reed (Dong Thap and Long An Province) and the Long Xuyen Quadrangle (An Giang and Kien Giang Province). In this area pumping stations, among dykes and water control gates, constitute the infrastructural backbone for the intensification of agricultural production. The expansion of double and triple-cropping of paddy and fresh water aquacultures (e.g. catfish) particularly depend on efficient pumping stations. The program will contribute to increase drainage capacity during the monsoon season (May to November), when the area is affected by rising water levels and seasonally occurring floods. Furthermore, it will ensure sufficient water supply for agriculture during the dry season, which lasts from December to April.

The Southern and coastal provinces, in contrast, will only benefit to a much smaller extent. The entire investment capital will be transferred to the respective provincial authorities (Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development), which are in charge of the implementation of the program within their administrative territories. Once, the pumping stations have been set up, their operation and management will be in the hands of irrigation management and drainage companies (IMDC) and water user organizations (WUO) at the commune and hamlet level. Thereby, principles of participatory irrigation management will be implemented (Circular 75/2004/TT-BNN).

Province Estimated expenditures in the duration 2009-2010 in US$